Alexandra
POV - He suggested they were destined to meet each other. The very idea
was scary and exciting at the same time. Bash had been there for her in the
past few weeks. He had kept her company, and kept her from going insane with
worry about her father. Alexandra showed up in Tucson intent on escaping her
crazy yet lonely LA life, and had a perfect friendship placed right in her
lap.

The
appreciation rushed over her as she looked into his handsome face, the chiseled
slant of his jaw, the glint of gold in his hair, and his dark eyes searching
hers. Appreciation…and desire that she needed to get a handle on right now.
Butterflies crowded her stomach. She got ready to say what needed to be
said.

“Bash,
there’s something I have to tell you,” she blurted out.

She
had to do it. She would tell him now. He needed to know who she was. She was so
tired of keeping him at arm’s length with her disguise. If he hated her forever
after this, at least she would know she didn’t lie to him. There was always the
possibility she was wrong about him. Maybe he was not…

Bash
quietly slipped his fingers around hers and rubbed his thumb along her inner
palm. Those butterflies inside her turned into a hurricane. He leaned towards
her like they were the only people in the waiting room. They might as well have
been. Everything else was a fuzzy haze. He had her completely undone.

“Yes?”
he whispered.

His
lips were so close, and all she wanted to do was taste them.

Alexandra
shifted in her chair. She squeezed her eyes shut, losing all her resolve. She
eased her hand away from him and leaned back in the seat. “I need a place to
say,” she told him instead.

Month long tour for the Guardian Witch series by Ally Shields kicks off today! This is one fast-paced, action packed 7 book series! Follow along the tour to see each book spotlighted throughout the month, and check out the guest posts, reviews, interviews and spotlights! And make sure you enter the giveaway below for an Amazon gift card and book copies!

Twenty-three-year-old Ari Calin has sworn to keep the
peace in the Olde Town district of Riverdale, and most of the time the
Otherworlders cooperate. The vampires, werewolves and other magical creatures
go about their business, living side by side with humans, until the foreign
wolves arrive and a virtual reality drug hits the streets. When violence
erupts, Ari needs more than her witch fire, weapons and potions to stop the
madness.

Joining forces with a human police officer, Lt. Ryan
Foster, and a way-too-sexy vampire singer, Andreas De Luca, Ari hunts for the
enemy—from the vampire strip clubs to the caverns under the city. Every step
draws Ari and her companions deeper into an old feud and closer to the brink of
a supernatural war.Show
More

Excerpt:

Ari
retrieved her knife from the forest floor. The woods were quiet again. Still,
she lingered, reluctant to leave. An ominous prickle persisted at the back of
her neck, keeping her rooted to the clearing. She scanned the trees, opening
her mind to the smells and energy in the wind.

A sharp round of applause shattered the
silence.

A shadowy figure stepped from the
shelter of the trees. The stranger stopped, silhouetted against the light of the
moon. “Very nice, if a little overdone. I do not think he will return soon.”

A rich, masculine voice, softly
accented, rolled over her. Ari’s pulse leaped. Her witch blood surged in
response to the unmistakable vampiric energy, and she snapped into defensive
mode.

The vampire stayed in the moonlight. An
easy target for witch fire, Ari thought. Maybe he wasn’t hostile. More likely,
he didn’t think she was any kind of threat. Either way, her advantage. She’d
been underestimated before.

“You need not be concerned,” he said. “I
intend no mischief.”

The distinctive cadence of Italy in his
words trailed a feathery caress along her skin. The sound wrapped itself around
her in lazy curls. A quiver swept up her arms, and she shivered. Ari quickly
blocked the intrusion. She needed to keep her wits about her.

“No magical probing,” she snapped. “Your
tricks don’t work on me. I’m stronger than that.” Yet even as she spoke, she
felt the pull, smooth as silk and slightly wicked. Her blood hummed in
response, as if her magic recognized his.

And liked it.

Bio:

Ally
Shields was born and raised in the Midwest, along the Mississippi River, the
setting for the Guardian Witch urban fantasy series. After earlier careers as a teacher, lawyer and Juvenile
Court Officer, she turned to full-time writing in 2009. She still lives near
Des Moines with her Miniature Pinscher, Ranger. When not writing or reading,
she loves traveling in the US and abroad. Way too often she can be found on
Twitter.